Fan Fiction (Bible ) fan fiction
by The Righterzpen
Summary: Who loves "fan fiction" but hates trolls (as well as groups like "critics united" who do nothing but troll and harass authors? Here's an educational "fan fiction" of Fan Fiction for you. A FF that will give you information about TOS and guidelines to help you defend against cyber bullying on this site.
1. Chapter 1

**Fan Fiction (Bible) fan fiction**

 _Disclaimer - I don't own Fan Fiction. I'm simply a fan who likes Fan Fiction because I'm an author and I like to write! This essay is my own and references to Fan Fiction's Terms of Service and Community Guidelines will be included, as well as references to copy write laws and laws of "fair use". These items are added under "fair use" laws, seeing how this essay is for educational purposes._

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So here we go peeps; essays on Fan Fiction. What is Fan Fiction and what is it not?

 _Especially for those of us who write for the Bible category; but certainly can be applicable to other authors!_

So fellow Bible fan fiction authors; (as well as many other authors of any other categories). Have you gotten a review like this one below; particularly from this group called "Critics United"?

 _ **(My opinion of "Critics United" is that they are a bunch of cyber bullies who try to intimidate authors into taking their stories down; particularly be telling us authors that we are in violation of Fan Fiction's Terms of Service.**_ _(Here after referred to as TOS.)_ _ **)**_

 _ **TOS:**_

D. _ **In connection with User Submissions, you further agree that you will not submit material that is copyrighted, protected by trade secret or otherwise subject to third party proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights, unless you are the owner of such rights or have permission from their rightful owner and the necessary consents from ANY INDIVIDUALS WHOSE PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION IS CONTAINED in such material to post the material and to grant all of the license rights granted herein.**_

So yes an anonymous "review" by people of a certain community on Fan Fiction; that community can be named because they are part of Fan Fiction's property and hereby group is named under "fair used laws" for educational purposes.

Fan Fiction also does not guarantee a right to privacy once one posts a submission; but I'll get to that later.

 _ **AND NOTE - NO PERSONABLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION of this group is named in this essay.**_

So therefore, what I'm writing here is not a violation of TOS either. People's pen names, or "user names" on this site are also not "personally identifiable information". So therefore even if I were to name an individual by their "user name" in this essay, it would still not be a violation of TOS because a "user name" is not "personally identifiable information" and not protected under privacy laws.

* * *

The Righterzpen,

A new guest review has been posted to your story. Please login to moderate this review.

Story: Welcome Home! My Mini AutoBiography

Chapter: 1. Chapter 1

From: Guest

:Yeah... I'm with the CU folks on this one.

Look, if you want to post your sob stories online, get a tumblr. Get a blog. Start a youtube channel. There's any number of websites out there where you can TMI all about your life's story, but here? On this site?

Honey, this is for FANFICTION. This is a place to write OCs living it up at Hogwarts. Other Tributes getting whacked in the Hunger Games. My Little Pony crackships. If you were writing about Judas and Jesus having a biblically inaccurate relationship, then it would be fanfic. But a recount of your melodramatic religious awakening isn't fanfiction, no matter how much you play it up. It's spam. It's been reported and it'll keep getting reported until you either delete it yourself and play by the rules you have to re-agree to before posting any new story, or until the Admins get far enough down the list and delete this b*** or suspend/terminate your account.

This site runs on the Honor System. And you're s*** on it. Not very Christian of you.

Do not reply to this email.

FanFiction

* * *

 _ **LOL - Yeah trolls, keep reporting my stories and leaving these nasty reviews; they are great ammunition for you get yourselves banned! Woo Hoo!**_

 _ **OK fellow authors - I'm sure you see what I mean by cyber bullies. Many of you have also been attacked by this group. I know. I've seen it. So since they most often insist that a work is not "fan fiction"; next most logical question?**_

 **What is fan fiction?**

According to Webster's Dictionary fan fiction is defined as:

 **:** stories involving popular fictional characters that are written by fans and often posted on the Internet

Fan Fiction further defines acceptable content as being:

A. As a account holder you may submit _**textual, audio, visual, or audiovisual content including BUT NOT LIMITED TO stories, poetry, polls, profile images, forum messages or instant messages.**_

So yes, it is totally legal and not a TOS violation for me to print in this essay a "review" that was left on one of my stories.

 _ **User submitted content are collectively referred to as "User Submissions." You understand that whether or not such User Submissions are published, DOES NOT GUARANTEE ANY confidentiality with respect to ANY User Submissions.**_

Yes folks, this includes reviews. Fan Fiction does not guarantee that any "review" posted to anyone's story will not be reposted in something such as an essay like this!

* * *

 **Copy Right Policy:**

This next group of sentences are taken from Fan Fiction's copy right policy:

Include the following statement: "I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted work described above is not authorized by the copyright owner (or by a third party who is legally entitled to do so on behalf of the copyright owner) _**and is not otherwise permitted by law.**_ "

Now, what are "fair use laws"? To understand that, we have to understand what is protected by Copy Rights.

 **Copy Rights laws :**

Under Title 17 of the U.S. Code, copyright owners have the right to limit the use of their creative work. An owner has the right to distribute, reproduce, display, make derivatives, or perform the work in public. This right applies to both published and unpublished works fixed in a tangible medium. Creative works include:

Literature

Music

Motion pictures and other audiovisual productions

Sound recordings

Pantomimes and choreography

Pictorial, graphic, and sculptures

Architectural designs

Copyright law does not apply to ideas and facts; names, pen names, titles, or slogans; extemporaneous speeches; blank forms and standardized material; and government works. Although copyright law does not protect facts and ideas, copyright protects the author's phrasing or form of expression.

 **Fair Use laws:**

Under the Copyright Act, the fair use of copyrighted material without permission is allowed when used for the following purposes:

Criticism;

Comment;

News reporting;

Teaching, includes making copies for use in the classroom;

Scholarship and research;

Parody.

These uses do not grant the right to use the copyrighted work in its entirety. Rather, the use should be limited to quoting, excerpting, summarizing, and making educational copies of the material.

 **The Fair Use Four-Factor Test**

Courts consider four factors when evaluating whether an unauthorized use of copyrighted material is fair. The following factors are guidelines under the Copyright Act:

 **The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes:** Courts consider whether the use is transformative. For instance, was the purpose of the new use transformative, did a new expression change the original work, or did the use create new information or lead to new ideas? The more transformative a new work, the more likely a court will consider it fair use.

 **The nature of the copyrighted work:** Courts look at whether the copyrighted work is creative or factual and whether it is published or unpublished. Creative works, such as fiction, creative nonfiction, pictures, and graphic works, typically receive more protection. Factual works, such as history accounts and scientific works, receive less protection because of the benefit to society from the exchange of ideas . Authors have a right to decide when to publish their work, so the use of unpublished works without permission is less acceptable than using published works.

 **The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole:** Courts consider how much material was copied and was the copied material a central part of the original work. When a large portion of the entire copyrighted material is used or it includes the use of a central point, it is less likely that a court will consider it fair use. For, parody, however, it is acceptable to borrow a large portion and to use the central part of the original work.

 **The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work:** A court will look closely at a use that deprives a copyright holder of income, regardless of whether the new material is competing in the same market. Important factors include the current market and the potential market.

(References from FindLaw dot com)

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Now "fair use" is what actually makes fan fiction legal; so long as the "fan" is not profiting from the fan fiction. Also, making references to what you own and what you don't own as the author, further clarifies this distinction. So yes, under "fair use laws" you can use song lyrics in a fan fiction, providing what you are doing with those lyrics are covered under "fair use laws".

This is another "favorite" of those who try to tell authors they are violating Fan Fiction's TOS. I.E. you can't use song lyrics in a fan fiction. That is not necessary true.

* * *

Next thing I will cover is how Fan Fiction does _**NOT** _define "fan fiction".

 **NO WHERE IN THE TOS OR COMMUNITY GUIDELINES, DOES FAN FICTION EVER STATE THAT SOMETHING THAT'S FACTUAL, OR NONFICTION CAN NOT BE "fan fiction"; even if the "submission" itself is not "fiction".**

 **Fan Fiction itself does not define the content of what they consider "fan fiction". They leave that definition pretty broad open, and the reason I believe they do that, is because writing is a creative endeavor.**

So yes authors; we can write factual personal stories, original songs, poems, prayers, conversations or any other type of literary expression; so long as it's related to the category of "fan fiction" that one is writing in and does not violate any of the other terms of service criteria.

I.E. you can not write a "fan fiction" about a living human being. No "fan fictions" of / or "flames" about Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton or anyone else still living is allowed. This does not mean you can not mention or make factual reference to living people in a fan fiction. The "fan fiction" though can not be about them.

 _ **Example:** Character (name) was sitting on the couch watching TV when the presidential debates came on and Trump explained his MAGA plan. Character (name) came out of the kitchen and asked: "Do you want twice baked snails for dinner." …_

References like this are allowed because the fan fiction is not about the living person.

* * *

 **Fan Fiction categories that contain factual works:**

So, the fact that books that certain people consider to be factual; like the Bible are included in Fan Fiction's "fan fiction" categories; further eliminates the argument that something factual is not "fan fiction".

Here is another example of someone penning a factual story of a known fictitious work:

 _Character B goes to Hogwarts; wherewith author goes on to describe a factual experience author had in - for example - a theme park._

Nothing along any of these lines is a violation of TOS, regardless of what "critics" tell you.

 **Community Guidelines:**

Now here's another favorite tactic to harass authors. Trolls tell authors that authors are violating community guidelines by _**not "respecting the review".**_ This is nothing but another bullying tactic they use to try and force you to agree with them.

Fan Fiction is a writer's platform that is based in the United States. Therefore the rules that govern Fan Fiction, do not supersede the American constitutional right to freedom of speech. You as the author have every right to disagree with their "review" and tell them that it's B.S.

A "review" that tells you your story will be removed for violations of TOS (even when you have not violated TOS); or threatens that your account will be deleted - is not a "review". That's cyber bullying. Plain and simple; it's cyber bullying. Depending on where you live, you may have legal recourse over cyber bullying, because cyber bullying can fall into the category of "hate speech", "libel" or "slander", and "defamatory or obscene communication".

 _ **AND THOSE ARE VIOLATIONS OF FAN FICTION'S TOS!**_

 _ **Pay attention "Critics United" and trolls! I am keeping record of everything you say to me!**_

Lastly, I would assume that because this is possible; Fan Fiction does have the ability to execute what's called an IP address ban. Which means that it doesn't matter how many accounts a troll creates; one's IP address is based on their physical location and if the IP address is banned from a site - unless you move out of mom's basement - you're done!

Sorry trolls; but you're done!

 _ **Now last last but not least:**_

F. You understand that when using the Website, you will be exposed to User Submissions from a variety of sources, and that is not responsible for the accuracy, usefulness, safety, or intellectual property rights of or relating to such User Submissions. **You further understand and acknowledge that you may be exposed to User Submissions that are inaccurate, offensive, indecent, or objectionable, and you agree to waive, and hereby do waive, any legal or equitable rights or remedies you have or may have against with respect thereto, and agree to indemnify and hold , its Owners/Operators, affiliates, and/or licensors, harmless to the fullest extent allowed by law regarding all matters related to your use of the site.**

So yes trolls, you will be exposed to people's personal testimonies about their relationship with God, should you decide to read "Bible fan fiction". And you can not hold authors or Fan Fiction liable for you being offended. So, sorry trolls, but Fan Fiction does not contain "safe spaces" with puppies and coloring books.

Unless Fan Fiction removes "Bible" as a submission-able category under "books"; you poor trolls, there's absolutely nothing you can do about it.

BUT if you so feel the need to report our stores, than knock yourselves out, because in the end, you are the ones in violation of TOS.

So thus concludes my essay. May it be helpful to all the authors out there who are being cyber bullied.

So fellow authors; don't be afraid of these people. Fan Fiction wrote the TOS and community guidelines with the understanding that we as authors all have brains and we don't need people like "Critics United" to tell us what any of these statutes mean. Don't be intimidated; check yourself to make sure you are in the guidelines and if you find they are in violation of TOS; record everything they say to you and report it to Fan Fiction.


	2. Chapter 2

**Essay #2**

Now in my next Fan Fiction (Bible) fan fiction essay; I will address a few more issues; some of which my "error" has been alleged by Zero Slash One, who left a review on this story.

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 **TOS, Community Guidelines, living people and US Constitutional right to Freedom of Speech:**

First, let's address the difference between TOS and Community Guidelines. They are two different things. TOS says this about Community Guidelines:

E. **You further agree that you will not, in connection with User Submissions, submit material that is contrary to the Community Guidelines, found at guidelines/, which may be updated from time to time, or contrary to applicable local, national, and international laws and regulations.**

Community guidelines are updated from time to time because of "applicable local, national, and international laws and regulations." Laws change and different laws are applicable in different countries. So this is why Community Guidelines change. The TOS probably are not going to change as frequently as the Community Guidelines.

" _ **Term of service"**_ means legally binding.

" _ **Guidelines"**_ may or may not be legally binding, as a strict requirement to follow, but is legally binding where subject to law. This is why this portion contains this phrase of "applicable local, national and international laws and regulations". This is also why the TOS contains other references to "as permitted by law".

What this means is that the local, national and international laws and regulations supersede these TOS and Community Guidelines, where those laws apply. Someone accessing this web sight in China may be subject to laws that users in the United States are not.

 **So yes, the US Constitutional right to free speech supersedes FF's TOS and Community Guidelines as they apply to US citizens. TOS states this specifically by the statements about "applicable local, national and international laws and regulations".**

Furthermore the US Constitution itself states in it's supremacy clause:

The Supremacy Clause of the United States **Constitution** (Article VI, Clause 2) establishes that the **Constitution** , federal **laws** made pursuant to it, and treaties made under its authority, constitute the supreme **law** of the land.

What this means, is that the US Constitution does not apply _**only**_ to the US government's restricting your speech. **It also applies to any public access entity in the United States that would attempt to restrict the freedom of speech of an American citizen.**

So yes, the 1st Amendment does supersede FF's TOS and Community Guidelines.

Now, related to Constitutional right to free speech, Copy Right Laws (which _**are**_ relevant to someone's personal testimony / story) and FF's "Entries not allowed" #4 Stories with non-historical and non-fictional characters: actors, musicians, and etc.

Does an individual American citizen have the Constitutional right to say what ever they want about themselves? Obviously, yes they do. And because FF states that applicable laws supersede its TOS and Community Guidelines; I indeed have the right to say what ever I want about myself.

Now returning to "Entries not allowed" #4 - the colon means these examples of what this covers. This is in reference to actors, musicians and other living people, _**who I do not have the right to publish by "identifiable information", or "copy right infringement", or "right to privacy" a story about them.**_

Yet, I indeed own the "copy right" and "right to privacy" of what I am willing to let the rest of the world know about myself.

Yet note, I have not violated Fan Fiction's "identifiable information" clause. You the reader know me by a pen name. You know me by a profile photograph. You know me by what's written on my profile, as well as autobiographical information I have put on this website. You do not know my name, my address, my phone number, the city I live in or any of that "identifiable information".

No I am not a fictional character; _**but Fan Fiction NEVER defines that what has to be written MUST BE fictional. TOS and Community Guidelines DO NOT SAY THAT ANYWHERE!**_

So yes, authors of Bible fan fiction can write personal testimonies and it is not a violation of TOS or Community Guidelines if they are writing about themselves, or have permission to publish the story of someone else and that story does not contain "personally identifiable information". I.E. you can't use their real name! And yes, just for the record, any reference to family members of mine; none of those are their real names either!

* * *

 **Fan Fiction's definitions (or lack there of) of: Fan Fiction, "non story content", song lyrics and cyber bullying:**

 _ **Song lyrics**_ \- let's address that one first because that's (on the surface at least) "easy". "Actions not allowed" #3 states: Copying from a previously published work (including musical lyrics) not in the public domain.

 _ **Except where**_ … and here's where "Fair Use" laws step in, technically superseding TOS and Community Guidelines.

Does this mean that a Fan Fiction administrator won't cite an author, or tell them to remove copy righted lyrics? They might remove a story for copy righted lyrics, or they may not. (They will remove a "song fic".) But, if portions of lyrics are part of a larger story and demonstrate a change in the normal interpretation of those lyrics; thus making the use of them a new idea (which this is where you get into "Fair Use" laws), they may not do anything to the story. Those are all "legal battles" though and Fan Fiction administrators don't have the authority to determine whether or not something has violated "Fair Use" Laws.

What is clear though is; you can not plagiarize someone else's work. This is primarily why Fan Fiction took off the category "song fic" several years ago now. You can't copy something, put it on this site and say it is yours. Even though an author may cite the original author or copy right holder of a work; a "fan fiction" of a song was nixed for copy right issues.

Although understanding a little historical context of when Fan Fiction nixed this category, may bring some light to the issue. This happened at the same time Nabster and other on-line file sharing sites faced lawsuits for having copy righted music free on their platforms. The printed lyrics of a song though, are not the same thing as a digital copy of the entire work and there are web site compilations all over the Internet that give printed lyrics of copy righted songs. So are those websites also "in violation of copy right" for that? Generally the answer to that is "no" because of "Fair Use". Their publication of the song lyrics are for "educational purposes".

So although Fan Fiction's site states "Actions not allowed; copying from previously published work (including music lyrics) not in the public domain." This is legally a grey area for this website, because technically all fan fiction comes from "previously published work" (that in some cases clearly is still under copy right) and it is "fair use" to employ movie quotes and the such like, under certain circumstances.

So, this site ultimately stands or falls on the sword of "all inclusive" of copy righted material as "fan fiction fair game".

 **Legally** classifying **fanfiction** as a derivative work grants fans who write **fanfiction** the right to do so, as long as their work abides by the copyright laws of the original work and does not breach the doctrine of fair use (allows authors to use verbatim quotes from a work without the need for permission). Feb 5, 2016

 _ **Non Story Content:**_ First question: What is "non story content"? This one most authors really do understand. Zero Slash One has now stated that Welcome Home: My Mini Autobiography is "non story content".

 _ **Definition of a story:**_ (since Fan Fiction does not give their own definition, we go to an actual dictionary for the definition of a story; as it relates to writing).

1\. an account of imaginary or real people and events told for entertainment.

2\. an account of past events in someone's life, or in the evolution of something.

Seems pretty clear to me; an account someone may give of part of their life counts as a story. Yet other things that would not technically be labeled "story" are included by Fan Fiction as acceptable entries. These include poems, songs, and other such things authors may pen.

What Fan Fiction considers "non story content" they are pretty specific about. And to understand this, we'd hope authors would know a little about punctuation and what a : (colon) is used for.

 _ **Non-stories: lists, bloopers, polls, previews, challenges, author notes, and etc.**_

Note the colon in this list. This is listed under "entries" in the Community Guidelines. What is an "entry" as it relates to this site? An "entry" is what we would call a "story". Now within the context of a "story" can an author put lists, bloopers, polls, previews, challenges, author notes, and etc. Yes, they certainly can. What this is saying is an author can not list these items as separate entries: ie - separate "stories".

 _ **Definition of fan fiction:**_ I covered this already in my first essay; stating that because Fan Fiction itself does not define "fan fiction" and does not state that "fan fiction" has to be "fiction". What ever an author writes is wide open to interpretation.

 _Zero Slash One:_

 _(What is fanfiction)... uh, yeah? That's the definition your reviewers are working on. Hence, the reactions you've gotten to you posting journal entries, which don't feature any fictional characters and aren't structured as a serial narrative set in any fictional setting. It's just your diary._

There are two problems with this above statement:

1\. So now Zero Slash One is telling me that my reviewers are suppose to determine for me what is "fan fiction". If my reviewers don't think a work is "fan fiction" then it's not. Well that's bologna and anyone employing half a brain cell can see this is a self serving straw man argument. A majority of a voiced opinion does not automatically make that opinion correct or true. 100 people can say that a cat is a dog, but that still does not make a cat a dog.

2\. The accusation that I'm posting "journal entries". Technically speaking "journal entries" can qualify as a "story". Also, anyone who's actually read Welcome Home - My Mini Autobiography does see that it is a "serial narrative". And just for the record; that story actually is not "journal entries". My actual personal journal entries are not that organized. No, that story was written specifically the way it is for this website. It is a narrative that describes how God has impacted my life and therefore is listed under the category of "Bible fan fiction".

 _ **Lastly, Cyber Bullying:**_ There is actually a legal definition for this, which varies from state to state and may have application in other countries. Fan Fiction's TOS names "hate speech", "pornography", and "defamatory and / or obscene communication" as grounds for banning an account.

 _Zero Slash One:_

 _"Dude, site rules" is very much not equal to extended harassment over race, religion, sexuality, and so on._

" **Dude site rules" that harass Christian authors over the religious content of their stories CAN BE DEEMED "HATE SPEECH".**

Also "defamatory and obscene communication" is another grounds for banning an account. I.E. Being told my kid is a retard; that he was the product of my brother's abuse; that I'm a whore, a hoe or whatever. Being told I'm an alcoholic and I fell off the wagon, or I'm mentally ill, delusional Yada yada yada.

 _ **Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. (John 15:20)**_

This one troll who apparently is very triggered by my testimony, has said all these things to me. I'm pretty sure it's one person with multiple accounts. I can tell on account of several factors. This individual tries to be nice and then digresses and can't seem to control him/her (pretty sure this person has gender identity issues and / or struggling with homosexuality). I can also tell by the use of language and the consistency of pattern of disorganized thought that much of this trolling is being done by the same person.

 _ **How to handle trolls?**_ That's an individual author decision. I tend to give them the gospel as well as troll them back. LOL. What would be the Christian thing to do? Good question, seeing how there are plenty of examples in the New Testament where you could say Jesus "trolled them back". There were times He did speak up for Himself and He did defend Himself; and even got quite sarcastic about it!

So, anyhow; here draws the conclusion of essay #2. And keep in mind all fellow Christian authors; we wrestle not against flesh and blood. The haters that hate us do so because their father the devil hates God. So, count it all joy when you are persecuted for righteousness sake; for yours is the Kingdom of Heaven.


End file.
